In a recent discussion with a new client about workplace mediation I was struck by what she had to say. She is an officer of a 30 employee organization and a member of their senior executive team. I am paraphrasing what she said a bit, but I am very close to her exact points, if not word for word.

"We have been kidding ourselves by counting unresolved employment issues as a win for the company. Our apparent age-old strategy of kicking the grievance-can down the road has had measurable negative effects on the relationship between our employees, our customers, and our investors. We can see it, feel it, and are learning how to measure that dismay."

"The fast, fair, uncomplicated resolution of any kind of business problem minimizes the unproductive energy spent chewing on emotions or bemoaning an apparent disregard for employee concerns."

Great insight. She didn't have to sell me on her ideas. Many company policies and guidelines have been in place for decades. And they have taken on an almost religious life of their own.

"Shedding old policy history and designing a suitable, responsive approach to employee concerns is not hard. It is not costly. It is the right thing to do."

Did I mention that she has been with her company only 10 days?

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Thornton Mason is a national dispute resolution consultant and human relations mediator with 25 years of experience resolving over 1200 employee matters. His 60 Second Updates have a current reach of over 750,000 readers. He and Mediation Resolves focus on eliminating formal employee complaints, avoiding internal relationship disputes, preventing grievance backlogs, and restarting stalled labor negotiations.